


Work with me

by Starshaker



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Asexual Character, Dean/Cas Tropefest 5k Mid-Winter Challenge, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 13:59:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10515177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshaker/pseuds/Starshaker





	

Castiel had been working at Angel’s bar and restaurant for ten years as of last October. It was a second home as much as he’d ever known. The crack in the wall above the sink was familiar, the yellowed ceilings and the microwave third from the left that had worked for the past three years with a low hum and didn’t cook things quite as fast as the other two. 

Staff and customers alike looked forward to seeing him walk in; partly due to having see and solved almost every problem to try and disrupt his shifts in the past ten years, and partly due to his resilience to the trail of Michael and Lucifer's ideas that led them from one ‘revolution to the customer experience’ to the ‘ greatest solution to problematic productivity’. Almost every one involved a newly revised menu, more printed signs going up around the kitchen and staff areas and more tick boxes to be checked. Yet every problem had a solution, and if it didn’t, He would sarcastically reassure younger staff members that it was only a problem until the end of the shift.

It was silently acknowledged that to get rid of Cas would involve losing half of their customer base along with a number of their most experienced staff. 

A second silently acknowledged fact was that any shift where both Castiel and Dean, the head chef, were working would be smoother than if either one or both were absent. 

“Cas!” Dean said “Good to see you,” He asked and pulled Cas into a one armed hug as Cas clocked his timecard in. Castiel was apparently five minutes late for the evening shift according to the inaccurate machine. 

 

“Hello Dean,” Cas said as he turned into Dean and smiled, “Has it been a busy day?”

“Had it’s moments,” Dean said and shrugged, ”You’ve got no-one washing up tonight and Uriel phoned in sick again,”

“We’ll manage,” Cas said as he checked the rota to see who else was due in to work with them. “Are you cheffing tonight?”

“You’ve got me, Anna and Gadreel, but i’ve got Gad cleaning down the back fridge and meatroom.”

“Dean,” Cas said and Dean shot him a smile.

“Oh uh, Lucifer was looking for you earlier,” He said as he pulled away, “Was annoyed you weren’t here where you’re supposed to be,”

“He knows I only do a half day on Thursdays,”

“I know that, you know that,” Dean half shrugged again as he turned to pull a baking tray from under the grill, “Reckon it must have slipped his mind or something in the past three years,” 

“I’ll go and find him now,” Cas said as slipped out into the restaurant.

“Ah Castiel. We’re overbooked and you’re going be on tables tonight,”

“How many are we overbooked by?”

“Not many,” Lucifer said dismissively “They’re all written down i’m sure we can hurry them along,”

“The party of twelve for a birthday or the party of eighteen for a work’s do?” Cas muttered as he looked over the booking sheets for the night. He frowned and wondered if Michael would notice if he pulled some extra chairs from the staff room.

 

Despite leaving Castiel to work out the mess of table bookings for the night, Lucifer didn’t find himself occupied elsewhere. As Castiel returned a meal to the kitchen he felt Lucifer looming not half a step behind him.

“Dean,” Cas said. 

“Yeah?” Dean turned and when his eyes landed on the plate in Castiel’s hands his face dropped.

“What’s the matter, what was the problem?” Lucifer asked before Castiel had a chance to reply. He shouldered Cas to one side and prodded at the food on the plate in Cas’ hands.

“It’s table ten,” Cas said as he set the plate on the prep table between himself and Dean, and looked up, “She said her steak was too well done, she asked for medium, and the plate was cold,”

“It had a salad on it of course the plate wasn’t burning hot, did she want limp salad,” Lucifer said. He scoffed and sneered as if Castiel hadn’t bothered to ask for an adequate excuse. Dean shot Cas a sympathetic look.

“Does she want another one?” Dean asked

“Please,” Castiel said and nodded as he pushed the plate to Dean’s side of the counter, “I’ll offer her a complimentary drink while she waits,”

“I’ll sort it-” Lucifer said. Cas braced himself on the counter as Lucifer pushed past him and headed out into the restaurant to find the unhappy customer.

“Should I bother to fetch another steak,” Dean asked as he pried the unsatisfactory meal apart to check whether the complaint was valid. He dropped the cooked steak back onto the plate with disdain and wiped his fingers on the teatowel thrown over his shoulder, “-or will Lucifer have told her to leave by the time I do?”

“She didn’t look like she would have liked anything we set in front of her,” Castiel said by way of consolation.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” Dean said as he moved the meal round to waste and wash-up. He dropped a reassuring hand on Samandriel’s shoulder as he passed “ If I’m not fired by the end of the night, want to go into business with me?”

“What would we do?” Castiel asked.

“This,” Dean said and waved his hand vaguely. “Just... something where I’m not being told what to do y’know,” 

“You want to run your own restaurant?” Cas asked 

“Would if I could,” Dean said. He smiled as he looked down and stirred at a sauce on the cooker. 

“Cas can you help me clear table three,” Samandriel asked as he stepped past them both with a tray stacked high with dirty plates.

“Shout me when it’s ready,” Cas said and followed Samandriel out of the kitchen. He glanced back to see Dean watching him.

“Yeah, will do,” Dean said with a mock salute as Cas turned away.

 

“Dean,” Castiel spoke quietly despite their being only the two of them nearby, “If it was something you were actually considering, I’d be willing to run a business with you,” He said as he waited for the last parts of one table’s meals to be plated.

“Yeah?” Dean said and looked up, “No joke,”

“If there’s anyone I’d be willing to go into business with, it’d be you,”

“Aw man. You always say the nicest things. Hey did ya hear what Cas just said?” Dean called behind him.

“What?” Anna asked as she rounded the corner to plate up another meal.

“If there was anyone he’d want to go into business with it’d be me,” Dean said He stood straighter and his smile was genuine.

“Would you take anyone from here if you started a new business?” Castiel asked as he balanced the three plates along the length of his arm.

“There are some people I’d want to come with me,” Dean said as he reached over two flip two burgers on the grill.

“Gabriel?” Anna asked and shot Castiel a grin. Dean’s face dropped as he levelled a look her way. 

“No,” He said.

“Maybe not Gabe, but he’d definitely take Lucifer, maybe Balthazar, Bela,” Cas listed off as he turned back towards the restaurant. A heavy sigh from Dean could be heard as the door shut behind him.

 

A cold mist hung around the valley the next morning as Cas made his way in for his cleaning shift before service started. The restaurant was surrounded in hazy grey as Cas pulled into the parking lot, misted up windows and dew on the grass made for a gloomy picture. Cas double checked his rearview mirror to see that it was indeed Dean’s impala parked in the opposite corner of the lot. 

As Castiel stepped out of his car he was greeted by Dean calling out to him.

“Dean you’re not supposed to be in until ten,” Cas said “The clocks don’t change for another month at least,” He reached for his keys and Dean followed closely on his heels to the back entrance 

“Yeah I know, but I didn’t really sleep, and I wanted to catch you early,”

“You’re working a full day on no sleep,” Cas said with a sigh as he punched in the alarm code and glanced up at Dean. From the corner of his eye he saw the red dot flash to green and go out.

“I got distracted okay, can you look at this for me?” Dean said 

“Can you start the coffee?” Cas asked in return. He accepted the stack of papers and started to circle the kitchen turning on all the lights and getting the machines warming up for the day. Each one groaned to life, clicks and buzzes filled up the room, the oven had been on it’s last legs for at least a year, the light burned out inside and the fan took a quarter of an hour to heat up enough to melt the grease and begin spinning. 

 

Cas paused in the doorway of the kitchen and looked down over the first sheet of paper, and the next and the next, and the next, each page going into more and more detail, neater more categorised notes.costs and budgeting, legal requirements for a business, prices for equipment, menu styles and suppliers and dozens of further notes beside them.

“Here,” Dean said as he set a mug of coffee down at Cas’s elbow. Cas looked up and realised he’d migrated to the bar.. He gathered the papers together and held them with both hands as he turned to look at Dean. Dean’s eyes were on the papers and then his coffee, his gaze only flicked up to Castiel briefly before searching the restaurant for something else to focus on.

“I need to get the cleaning done,” Cas told him “Michael text me this morning to put all the cushion covers through the wash before service as well,”

“Yeah, sure,” He reached for the stack of papers “I’ll stick that back in the car. It was a stupid idea anyway-” Despite Dean’s insistence Cas refused to let go.

“I’m not done looking at them,” He said and reached to peel Dean’s fingers from their grip. “If you help me clean, I’ll have more time to-,”

“Got it,” Dean turned tail and before Cas could say another word he already had the cleaning cupboard open and a stack of cloths in his hands.

“Where do you want me to start?” He asked. Dean held a spray bottle in one hand and a mop in the other. Cas couldn’t help but smile at the sight. 

 

Michael had arrived as Castiel and Dean were replacing the clean cushion covers. Dean darted back into the kitchen to start on prep and Castiel slipped the stack of papers beneath one of the cushions as he set it down.

“I need you to work the late shift tonight,” Michael said.

“I’m on til close anyway,” Cas said

“Then you’re going to be one short tonight,” He spoke without a hint of remorse or apology.. 

“Is there no-one else who can cover tonight?”

“Unless you want to spend your break time calling round everyone, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want the extra hours but they should have put their name down on the rota,”

“The cover rota hasn’t been replaced in three weeks,” Cas said but he knew the words would fall on deaf ears before Micheal turned away. He waved his hand dismisively. 

“Lucifer’s the staff manager, bring it up with him,” He Said and strode away to the back office.

 

As it turned out Castiel did spend most of his lunch break on the phone, but not for want of extra staff. Sam had agreed within seconds of Dean firing off a text to him, and when the other staff started to filter in both Lucifer and Gabriel were more than pleased at the opportunity to see the younger Winchester again. Their response very nearly convinced Dean to tell his brother not to bother until Cas had shot him a desperate look and Dean set his phone back on the counter.

Cas spent his break sat on the concrete steps outside the back entrance of the kitchen, with his phone to his ear, his heart in his throat and his thoughts racing as he connected the dots from Dean’s sheets of notes. He asked the woman on the phone to wait just a moment as he darted back inside the kitchen.

Cas stepped around Gadreel and hesitated at the end of the chef’s table hoping to catch Dean’s attention. Hannah hovered at the other end of the table waiting to take meals and Castiel was near certain that Michael would walk in any minute and accuse him of wasting time and distracting the servers. He kept the speaker of his phone pressed to his shoulder.

Gadreel knocked him from behind and he frowned. There was plenty of space to work around him. Gadreel grunted a sorry and moved over to take something from the over. 

“Dean,” Cas said as he stepped out of Gadreel’s way again.

“Hello?” Dean called back but didn’t look up from the meals he was plating up. 

“Are you free tomorrow afternoon?” Cas asked. 

“Uh, i’m working a split tomorrow,”He said, “I’m off two til half five,” 

“Is there any point going home?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t get paid any more if I stay,” Dean said as he waved her to start taking the meals.

“Can you pick me up at half two?” Cas asked.

“Yeah sure,” Dean said and looked up to share a smile with him.“Wait, what’s wrong with your car?” Cas heard him but already had the phone raised to his ear again as he headed back outside for some privacy. 

He pulled a pen from his pocket a jotted down a name and time on top of the stack of papers he’d left on the back step. 

“Yes, thank you. We’ll see you tomorrow at three,” Cas said and promptly hung up the phone as he heard a similar reply. A tight anticipation curled in the pit of his stomach as he sat on the cool concrete step and looked out across the parking lot, through the other cars and to Dean’s impala, just visible from around its neighbours.

 

“Sorry i’m late,” Dean said as Cas sank into the passenger seat at two forty five. “And for the smell, had to clean the fryer before we started this morning,”

“I don’t mind, we won’t be late”

“Where’re we going?”

“The corner of Phillips street and Hillside,” Castiel told him.

“O-kay,” Dean said. He tapped his hands one the wheel along to a song on the radio, “Want to tell me why?”

“We have a viewing for the restaurant there,” Cas said. Dean’s hands stilled and after a moment of Dean’s silence Cas continued, “The restaurant floor can seat 80 customers and twenty around the bar, they say they make around two thousand on profit a month but the reputation and customer flow has been falling due to the family having to close frequently due to ill health. If we spread the news that it’s under new management I think those numbers would pick up,” 

Dean nodded along as he spoke and kept his eyes on the road. Even at the red lights he didn’t glance Cas’s way.

“There are six permanent employees that are willing to stay with the business,” Cas said, “The equipment is only two years old and includes a fryer, grill, and double hob, all run on gas, the restaurant has a transferable liquor license and the previous owners are willing to sign a non-compete. They’re retiring and have no-one they want to leave the business to,” 

“Cas, you saw my notes. I don’t have the money to get into this, or the collateral for a loan,”

“I do,”

“Then why the hell would you want to spend that on me,” Dean asked

“I’m not. This is something I want,” Castiel said, “I can’t do it on my own either. If this is something you want, I’d like to do it with you,” Castiel said as Dean pulled into a space a few lengths down from an empty restaurant with a for sale sign pinned to the front wall.

 

 

As they walked around the building with the agent Cas noticed every time Dean ran his hand over a piece of equipment, when his eyes were drawn to the menu stands and the decor. The estate agent, Sarah, had made a point of reiterating the current and prospective figures, and qualified each by saying that all prospective figures are purely speculative and subjective to how they’d want to grow the business. She said there was a lot of other interest but Castiel only half believed her.

The decor would need redo-ing, but the furniture would be included in the price. Castiel had already begun picturing them working here and his usual practical thinking was blurring with the hope that this would see him and Dean working together, closer than ever.

At the end of the tour Sarah asked their general opinion of the place and Dean remained silence. Castiel filled the gap, reassuring her that they were going to consider it, all the while doubting his every word. Dean had been unsure but excited when he’d handed Castiel his ideas, and now Castiel felt quite sure that he wasn’t overwhelmed at the prospect of this being their new venture.

 

“You should tell me now if you want me to forget the whole thing,” Cas said as Dean sat back down in the driver’s seat. Cas watched the agent in the side view mirror as she left, “Do you want this to work?” He asked

“Yeah. Yeah I want this,” Dean said. He looked at his watch and frowned briefly, “We’ve got what? An hour and a half til we’re due at Angels. You got anywhere else to be?”

“No, no plans,”

“Good,” Dean said and nodded once before he put the car in gear and pulled away.

Dean didn’t say where he was taking them though Cas had an idea when they turned down a familiar track. Not technically public access but this had long since been the place Dean came when he needed to disconnect. Cas had been with him a few times before. 

The impala slowed to a stop and Cas pushed the door open. They only had to walk about a hundred yards through weeds and grass when through the trees the hillside dropped away and the town sprawled out in the valley below them. 

The last time Cas had been up here he and Dean had brought two wobbly deck chairs with them after a shift at Angel’s and they’d shared half a dozen beers to toast in the new year.

Now six months later he saw that Dean had dragged a bench up here. 

“This is new,” He said by way of acknowledgement. “Just for you?”

“You think I’d bring anyone else up here?” Dean asked as he dropped to sit on one side of the bench.

“Sam maybe,”

“Nah,” Dean shook his head and beckoned Cas to sit, “When he needs an out, he goes to the library,” Dean said with a smile. Cas lowered himself to the seat and felt the ache in his knees for the first time all day. 

“Brought this up here when Bobby said he was going to melt it down for scrap. Only needed a repaint,” Dean said as Cas relaxed back into the corner and took a deep breath.

“You come up here when you need to think,” Cas mused, “Or have been thinking too much,”

“How would we do this?” Dean asked. As he spoke he clasped his hands tightly together and frowned down at them.

“You’ll take as much responsibility for this as you do for running Angel’s,” Castiel said firmly. “Only here it’ll be fifty percent on me. We know how to do this.”

“It’s big,” Dean said.

“Dean, there’s something I want to tell you. Something I want you to hear,” Castiel said and then took a few seconds to ask himself how best to phrase what he wanted to say. “Please don’t think so little of yourself that you can’t help me make a success of this, when I know I can’t do it without you,”

“I love you too, Cas,” Dean said with sigh and an uneasy laugh.

“I’m...grateful,” Castiel said. He caught Dean’s eye as he glanced up and then tracked his eyes across the valley in front of them

“When I say love...”

“Having something this important, shared with you, is important to me, and I intend to be incredibly happy with it,” Castiel said firmly.

“Right… yeah,” Dean said. From the corner of his vision Castiel saw Dean run a hand down over his face.

“Last time we were up here I told you something. Do you remember?”

“Before or after I almost ruined everything with a New Year’s kiss?” Dean asked as he shot a wary glance to Castiel.

“After you tried to kiss me,” Cas said. Dean nodded, his eyes still trained to the floor, “I am asexual, and you, to my knowledge, are not. I couldn’t and can’t picture any way in which a relationship would change what we have,” Cas explained “But if we did this... _This_ would mean things would change,”

“Yeah I reckon it would,”

They fell into silence as Cas’s attention wandered to the streets below. A distant siren faded in and out of range. He absent mindedly followed on of the yellow school buses through the streets as it weaved in and out of sight between buildings and intersections. 

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he realised his eyes were periodically closing in long blinks and a yawn took over his expression before he could swallow it down.

Cas glanced up and realised Dean was watching him. He wondered if Dean had said something and he hadn’t been concentrating enough to hear it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep much last night,” Cas admitted and stretched as he took a deep breath to put off the growing yawn in his chest.

“I could tell,” Dean said. 

“Do we need to go?” Castiel asked

“Another ten minutes if you want to be on time,” Dean told him. Castiel nodded and stood carefully, steadying himself on the bench. He took a step forward towards the edge of the precipice. He took another deep breath and a yawn forced it’s way up from his lungs.

“Are you gonna make it through the shift tonight?” Dean asked lightly.

“I’ll be fine once I get there. Can’t fall asleep over a customer, or with a knife in my hand.”

“I can cover for you if you need to take time out y’know.” Dean said and Cas turned back to him. The smiles shared between them grew.

“Are you going to cover the tables for me too?” Castiel asked. 

“Hey, i’ve done my fair share of waiting on tables,” Dean replied, “Some woman once called me charming and handsome,” A smile pulled at Castiel’s lips at the memory of when Dean last joined the waiting on staff on the other side of the Chef’s table and out in the restaurant at Angel’s. 

“Charming AND handsome, well maybe you should be the one serving customers rather than being stuck in the kitchen,” 

“And deprive them of you?” Dean asked, “I wouldn’t dare, it’d be anarchy,”

“I wonder how many regular customers from Angel’s would follow us if we started something new,”

“Not if,” Dean said and as Cas watched him his smile grew. Cas moved without realising what he was doing. Such a beautiful sight and just within reach, he raised his hand to cup Dean’s jaw, his thumbs resting just over the mess of freckles on his cheeks. His eyes fluttered shut but his smile never faltered.

“You’ve decided,” Cas said, his voice weak with anticipation.

“I want to work with you, cook with you, live with you; in that little flat above the restaurant,”

“That’s a lot all at once,” Cas said and he pulled his hand away.

“You think i’m going to fuck it up?” Dean asked, 

“No, of course not,”

“I am going to fuck up, but I’m going to try and fix it too,” Dean said, “Every time,”

“Promise me,” Castiel asked. He looked up as he spoke and met Dean’s eyes for a long moment.

“I promise,” Dean said.

 

“I have the keys,” Cas said in lieu of a greeting as he answered the call from Dean. He jangled the keys beside the receiver and then clasped them tightly in his hand at he looked up at their new restaurant. 

“I just handed in my notice. Michael told me to screw the four weeks and to get out,”

“Then it’s a good thing you have a job waiting for you,”

“Cas, I-,” Dean started, his voice uneasy. Cas cut him off.

“You’d best come over to the restaurant, I’m about to paint bee motifs on all the windows,” He said, an excuse for Dean to drive as fast as he was going to anyway.

“Don’t you dare-,” Cas hung up and stepped inside the front door. 

There would be a few small bees paints in the corner of the window, and flowers dotted around on some of the shelves. An alcove beside the kitchen door would be perfect for a cabinet or shelves for the cutlery and sauces. The light blue chairs could be rubbed down and varnished to the pale wood colour their scratches revealed. He wanted the whole place to be as bright and airy as the hopeful, ever growing picture in his mind’s eye. 

He’d already found his favourite spot; a table in the corner by the window where he’d set up his laptop, notes, letters and correspondence. He dropped his phone on the table and brought the laptop to life with a few random clicks. 

He fired back an email to Charlie, who was eagerly getting started on a new webpage and social media pages for them, and then glanced through the selection of suppliers and sponsors who’d replied with a dozen brochures. An overeager events planner, Crowley, had sent him three emails in three days as he vied to promote their opening night. 

It was mindless work, but it passed the time until Dean pulled up outside.

“I don’t see any bees,” He said as he stepped inside.

“There’s still time,”

“Since i’m now out of a job we can get this place up and running in half the time, right?”

“Michael’s just scared you would have convinced all the other staff to leave. If you’d stuck around you’d look far too smug about leaving,”

“How long before he figures out we’ve got this place?” Dean asked, “He’s not allowed in. He’ll try and burn it down in the night or something,”

“You’re not barring people before we’ve even opened,” Cas told him and looked down at his laptop to keep from smiling anyway. 

“What are we going to decide on first then? Menu, uniform?” Dean asked. Castiel glanced from his laptop to Dean who hovered nearby. Despite his light tone his fists were tight at his sides and he shifted from foot to foot. Cas pushed himself to his feet, crossed the gap and slid his arms around Dean; one across his shoulders and one around his waist and held on tight as he dared. He felt Dean’s breath stutter in his chest as his arms looped around Cas’ back and held him just as tightly in return.

“You were handing in your notice. You didn’t want to work there,”

“I didn’t,” Dean said after a moment, “Still sucks that i’m going to be out of pocket while we’re getting this place off the ground,”

“We’d probably be able to survive on all the free samples the suppliers have been offering us if we get that desperate,” Castiel said as he pulled away. Dean’s hand dropped and caught on Cas’ his pinky finger curled around Cas’ own.

“What’ve we got that’ll distract me?” Dean asked.

“You need to go through the applications,” Cas said. He gestured to the stack of printed CVs and cover letters, “There are fifteen so far. The ones on the top look most qualified, and there are a couple of familiar names at the bottom,”

“More qualified means they’ll want paying more,” Dean said as he eyed up the stack, “Who do we know?”

“Azazel, Luthor, Zachariah,” Cas said. Dean groaned. “Does it make you feel any better to know that both Azazel and Zachariah are out of work altogether,”

“It does actually,” Dean said with half a smile, “Cause they should be barred from here too,”

“You could always pick someone straight out of college and teach them,” Cas said flatly as he returned to his seat. “There are a couple of less experienced applicants,”

“Hey, you reckon I could get an apprentice?” Dean asked as he took the seat opposite and Castiel felt his foot nudged by Dean’s, “Gotta teach the next generation how to make a decent pie,”

“I had Charlie add that section to the webpage,” Cas said and he watched as Dean’s expression turned from an easy smile to confusion..

“What?”

“Pie of the day,” Castiel told him and Dean’s grin returned with vigour.

“Marry me, Cas,”

“No,” Castiel shook his head and returned his attention to the laptop.

“Can I buy you dinner at least?” Dean asked and knocked his foot against Cas’s underneath the table.

“Burgers?” Cas asked and Dean nodded and moved to pick his phone from his pocket. Cas knocked his foot back, “Only after you’ve picked some applicants to interview,”


End file.
